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Subject:Re: Make It Pretty From:Kim Ferri 415-428-2710 <kim -at- ASPECTDV -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 16 Nov 1994 10:56:12 PST
>There's a fellow in my chain of command who refers to our work
>(Technical Publications Department) as "making it pretty."
I get that kind of thing quite often, especially when the speaker has no idea
what I do with my day. My usual response is something like: "If all you want
is someone to format your docs, you can get someone a lot cheaper." I wouldn't
recommend that response for everyone, however.
Frankly, there are many technical writers who really do just make it pretty.
They clean up the English and format it to enhance readability, but they don't
necessarily understand the product to a significant degree.
One thing I've done in the past to underscore the variety of tasks I complete is
to publish very detailed schedules. It provides some illumination of the
documentation process for people who are not acquainted with what it takes to
create a book. Many people have no idea that most writers actually try to
understand the product on many different levels.
Good Luck.
Kimberly Ferri
Senior (and only) Technical Writer
Aspect Development, Inc.
